Scottish trio eye medals after reaching 1500m final

ON a good night for Britain, Jake Wightman, Neil Gourley and Josh Kerr all reached tomorrow’s 1500m final at the World Championships in Doha.

In the first of the three semis Neil Gourley made sure of qualification with a patient run that saw the Giffnock man bide his time on the rail before finding a gap in the final 70m. In a blanket finish he dipped for third, guaranteeing his place in the final.

“A medal is the goal, it’s going to be tough but I’d be selling myself short if I wasn’t trying to do that,” said Gourley, pictured.

In the second semi, both Jake Wightman and Josh Kerr lined up hoping to join their team-mate and did just that through differing routes. In a swift final lap that closed the race faster than the first semi, Kerr eased to an automatic qualifier in fourth, whilst Wightman paid the price for moving too early and faded to seventh. However, the overall pace meant he received one of the two non-automatic qualifying positions.

Wightman said: “I was just a bit too fixated in making that final and thought I could get into it a bit easier than it turned out being.”

Kerr said: “I feel like I had another gear there if I needed to be, so when I looked around and no one was gaining I had a little smile to myself. It was about making smart decisions, trusting myself and trusting my strength.”

Dina Asher-Smith’s triple medal hopes remain alive after the 4x100m women’s relay squad reached the final. Asha Philip, Imani Lansiquot, Ashleigh Nelson and Daryll Neita clocked 42.25 seconds to come second. AsherSmith will join the team for today’s final.

The men, consisting of Adam Gemili, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel MitchellBlake, won their heat in a world leading time this year of 37.56.